Bootstrap
Rowland Wheatley

Even so must the Son of man be lifted up

John 3:14; Numbers 21:4-9
Rowland Wheatley • May, 3 2026 • Video & Audio
1,003 Sermons
0 Comments
Rowland Wheatley
Rowland Wheatley • May, 3 2026
1,003 sermons
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14)
~~~~~~~~
A Lord's day afternoon service in the lounge of Milward Pilgrim Home, Tunbridge Wells Kent.
~~~~~~~~
*1/ A type approximately 1450 years before Christ.
2/ Even so - Christ's application and the great anti-type.*

**Sermon Summary:**

The sermon centers on the profound connection between the Old Testament account of the bronze serpent in the wilderness and Jesus Christ's crucifixion, illustrating how both serve as divine means of salvation through faith.

It emphasizes that sin, manifested in rebellion against God and His appointed leaders, brings judgment—symbolized by the deadly serpents—but repentance and faith in God's appointed remedy lead to life.

Just as the Israelites were healed by looking upon the lifted serpent, believers are saved by looking to Christ, who was lifted up on the cross as a substitute, bearing the curse of sin and satisfying divine justice.

The message underscores that salvation is not found in removing sin's consequences through human effort, but in faith in Christ alone, who is revealed through Scripture and proclaimed in the gospel, drawing sinners to Himself in humility and trust.

The tone is both pastoral and convicting, calling listeners to recognize their sin, repent, and fix their eyes on Christ as the only source of eternal life.

The sermon addresses the theological doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, drawing a parallel between the bronze serpent in Numbers 21:4-9 and the crucifixion of Christ in John 3:14. The preacher presents key arguments highlighting the rebellion of the Israelites against God, which led to judgment, and the divine provision of the bronze serpent as a means of healing—signifying that salvation comes from God's initiative. The Scripture references support the argument by illustrating how God provided a tangible symbol of hope and healing, emphasizing that just as the Israelites looked to the serpent for physical healing, so too must believers look to Christ for spiritual salvation. The sermon’s practical significance lies in its affirmation of the Reformed doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone, urging listeners to respond to God's grace with humility, repentance, and faith in Jesus as the only remedy for sin.

Key Quotes

“Just as the Israelites were healed by looking upon the lifted serpent, believers are saved by looking to Christ, who was lifted up on the cross.”

“Salvation is not found in removing sin's consequences through human effort, but in faith in Christ alone.”

“The message calls us to recognize our sin, repent, and fix our eyes on Christ as the only source of eternal life.”

What does the Bible say about the serpent lifted up in the wilderness?

The Bible teaches that the serpent lifted up by Moses symbolizes Christ, who was lifted up for our salvation.

In John 3:14, Jesus draws a parallel between Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness and His own impending crucifixion. Just as the Israelites who looked upon the serpent were healed, those who believe in Christ, who was lifted up on the Cross, receive eternal life. This event signifies the means of grace God provided to save His people from sin and death, pre-figuring Christ's ultimate sacrifice for humanity's redemption.

John 3:14, Numbers 21:4-9

How do we know that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for our sins?

Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient because He took upon Himself the curse of our sins and satisfied God's justice.

The theological basis for the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice lies in the principle of substitutionary atonement. As outlined in John 3:16, God sent His Son so that those who believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. At the Cross, Christ bore the weight of eternal wrath meant for sinners, thereby fulfilling God's law and securing redemption for His people. This act demonstrates that His death was not only necessary but fully sufficient to deal with sin's consequences.

John 3:16, Galatians 3:13

Why is believing in Jesus important for Christians?

Believing in Jesus is essential because it grants us eternal life and reconciles us to God.

Belief in Jesus is more than intellectual assent; it is a deep-seated trust in His person and work as Savior. According to John 3:18, those who believe in Him are not condemned, while those who do not believe are condemned already. This highlights the necessity of faith for salvation. Believing in Jesus allows Christians to experience forgiveness, hope, and a relationship with God, which are central tenets of the Christian faith that assure eternal life.

John 3:18, Romans 10:9-10

What is the significance of the 'light' mentioned in John 3?

The 'light' symbolizes Christ, who reveals truth and exposes the darkness of sin.

In John 3:19, the concept of light conveys the truth of Jesus' identity and mission. Light, representing holiness and divine revelation, juxtaposes the darkness of sin and ignorance. When individuals choose to reject the light, they reveal their love for darkness over righteousness. Thus, accepting the light means acknowledging one's sinfulness and turning towards the grace of God in Christ to be saved. Light brings clarity and understanding of God's love and our need for salvation.

John 3:19-21, John 8:12

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

100%
The reading is on the second page of your sheets. We're taking the reading from the Old Testament and then from the New. Behold is what the New gives light upon. So firstly Numbers chapter 21 and we're reading from verse 4 through to 9. And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea. to compass the land of Edom.

And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way, the people's faith against God and against Moses. Wherefore hath he brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread.

And the Lord sent fiery serpents among their people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. and Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon him, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Now the New Testament, the Gospel according to John chapter 3 and verses 14 to 21. This is our Lord speaking. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather than light. their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." As far the reading of God's Holy Word The words I've highlighted in black on the reading and on the front of the sheet, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

So our Lord is speaking of what we read in Numbers as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. It was to be for them some 1450 years before the Lord came a means of grace, a means whereby they would see how God would save his people from sin and from death. And it's when we look at these types, and especially in the light of the New Testament, and when our Lord interprets them to us, that we can see more clearly Christ's own sacrifice and death. If you think of other types in the Old Testament, we think of Joseph sent before his brethren to preserve their lives by a great deliverance. There he was brought to Egypt and through sufferings he was brought to be next unto the King and he was brought there to save their lives.

He is like our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we have Jonah, of course, our Lord referred to him as Jonah was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Same as Jonah was in the whale's belly, same as he was in the fish. And it shows God's plan of salvation that goes from the beginning of the world.

He is giving those types and those shadows thousands of years before he fulfilled them. David's prophecies in Psalm 22, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, written a thousand years before Christ uttered those words at Calvary. And so let us look, as the word here says, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Just look at the situation, what happened there in the wilderness with the children of Israel.

The first thing to note is the sin of speaking against God. Remember that David in Psalm 51, after he had sinned, it was sinning in murder and adultery, that he says, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Sin is against God, and here is God's own people, and they're speaking against God.

Their Creator, their Former, He that is over all things, a God that has no beginning nor end, and His creatures are rising up and speaking against Him. That is what we do by nature. That is like Pharaoh, we will not have this man to reign over us. And God's people, the typical people of Israel, they were just the same. Things that came in their lives, they spoke against God, they murmured, they complained, and put this into words, and spoke against Moses, the Lord's servant, as well.

And it was because of this that God's wrath came upon them in the form of these fiery serpents, so that they bit them, and many of them died. A real time of what sin is. Sin will bite us, sin will put its poison into us and the result is death. And many of them were dying.

And sin is because of our rebellion against God. But then the people are brought to confession and prayer. In verse 7 They came to Moses, we have sinned for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. This is what the Lord does with His people. If we confess our sins, His faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will bring us through the things that He brings into our lives to bring us to confess, to repent, to own that we are sinners and that we need saving.

This was something that they could not do. They thought though, that the way of saving was to take away the serpents. But God did not take away the serpents. You and I might think, take away our old nature, take away sin, take away the cause of sinning. But no, that remains and we are still in a fallen world, a cursed world that God brings his salvation in a different way.

It was like that in Queen Esther's time. The king had made a decree, deceived into doing it by Haman, that on a certain day all the Jews would be killed. But Esther hadn't got power. The king had not got power to just take away that judgment, that decree. He could not just say, well don't worry about it, we just won't have that day, we'll reverse it. It couldn't be done, there had to be another law put into place, another decree, a way that that decree could stand and yet the people be delivered from death.

And so this is the type of how things are today. We have a fallen world, we have sin and we are sinners and we are under the sentence of death, But God has made a way that the effect of sin, the sentence of sin, is nullified, is taken away, the curse is taken away, it's borne by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, what was done in the wilderness, those servants were still there, and they still bit the people as well, they weren't even stopped from doing that. But when anyone was mindful that they had been bitten, then there was something that they could do, something they could look to, and this is what God told Moses to do, to make a fiery serpent, an image of one, set it up upon a pole, as if it was sin itself. Brass in the Old Testament sets forth sin, and we think of our Lord, who was made sin for us, who knew no sin.

And so, this was a type of no merit in the brass, no merit in that at all. In fact, those of you may remember, in the days of Hezekiah, the children of Israel were worshipping this. They were using it as an idol. And so, he crushed it to powder, he called it Hestoustan, which is a piece of brass. It was nothing in itself. It was only used at that time as a type and a shadow, and it wasn't to be idolized as if anything was in the thing itself. They had to look past that and past that to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So when they were bitten, then they had to look at that pole, that serpent of brass that was lifted up, Now those that were very far off, they would have only seen that as a small little thing, perhaps a glimmer, a gleam of brass. Those who were close up would have seen it very clear, but those that looked, they lived. When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. He came to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

And so this is the type, this is the illustration that our Lord says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, and He is set forth as the Son of Man. God and Man in one person, the God incarnate, and He has come to this world that he might be made a curse for his people, cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree, so he is to be lifted up. Now, he was lifted up at Calvary, there his shed blood was shed, we sung of that in our first hymn, and it is vital if sin is to be put away, if the justice of God is to be satisfied, that it is to be done in a substitute appointed by God. and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal wrath of God fell on Christ instead of those who believe in Him, instead of His people. And so, it must be lifted up if Christ is to save any, if any is to be saved from sin, its consequences here, and its eternal condemnation forever, it must be that He suffers and He dies. and that the people of God identify with that. If you think of everyone that was bitten by those serpents, they were identifying with that brazen serpent as to the only way that they would be healed. They were obeying what God said they should do, to look upon it.

And so we have the same. We have the Lord Jesus Christ and we also are to follow what he said, whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. And so how do we look upon him as it were, because we're not at Calvary, our Lord is not here below, but we look upon him in the ministry, in the gospel. In the ministry we lift up Christ, we preach Christ and him crucified. We set Him forth, we do like the two on their way to Emmaus, heard the Lord Himself do in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.

And I'm sure one of the Scriptures would have been this in numbers. He would have explained to them and opened up. This is what was being pointed to here, a suffering Saviour. Christ crucified and lifted up and they had seen Him. and their heart burned within them while he taught with them by the way, and it is, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

If there's ever an example of that, it's the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading Isaiah 53, and he didn't know who the prophet was speaking of, himself or another man, when he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. And when Philip came, he said to him, Understandeth what thou readest? How can I, except some man guide me? And he began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. He lifted up the Lord Jesus Christ on the pole of the gospel. and it brought him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

And this is what we need. We need as well that same looking to Him. And notice it wasn't said to be all Israel that should look as an antidote, but it was when they were bitten, when they felt their sins, One of our hymns says, sinners can say, and none but they, how precious is the Savior. And it's when we feel our sinship, like the publican, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And it's those, when you feel your sin, you feel your guilt, then to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe in His name.

How beautiful the words here that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And may it be then that we put this into practice and all the time we're looking there to who else can we go Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

It is as Christ has died for our sin and rose again for our justification, that there is life through His name and through believing in Him. So may the Lord give you some meditation upon this through this day and have it afresh. what it is to have Christ set before you as the Lamb of God, as the Crucified One, as the One lifted up and made sin for us who knew no sin.
Rowland Wheatley
About Rowland Wheatley
Pastor Rowland Wheatley was called to the Gospel Ministry in Melbourne, Australia in 1993. He returned to his native England and has been Pastor of The Strict Baptist Chapel, St David’s Bridge Cranbrook, England since 1998. He and his wife Hilary are blessed with two children, Esther and Tom. Esther and her husband Jacob are members of the Berean Bible Church Queensland, Australia. Tom is an elder at Emmanuel Church Salisbury, England. He and his wife Pauline have 4 children, Savannah, Flynn, Willow and Gus.
Broadcaster:
St David's Bridge Strict Baptist Chapel
Theology:
#Soteriology #Justification #Faith Alone
More from Rowland Wheatley

Comments

0 / 2000 characters
Comments are moderated before appearing.

Be the first to comment!

More from Rowland Wheatley

A spiritual birth - Its necessity, cause, and evidence May 24, 2026 · John 1:12-13; John 3:1-21
A nail in a sure place May 24, 2026 · Isaiah 22:23; Isaiah 36
What meaneth this? - Pentecost. May 24, 2026 · Acts 1-2; Acts 2:12
Living as a Christian May 21, 2026 · 1 Peter 3:8-17; Romans 12
Shew me a token for good May 17, 2026 · Joshua 2; Psalm 86:17
View All 1,003 Sermons

Related Sermons

What meaneth this? - Pentecost. Rowland Wheatley · May 24, 2026
A nail in a sure place Rowland Wheatley · May 24, 2026
A spiritual birth - Its necessity, cause, and evidence Rowland Wheatley · May 24, 2026
Living as a Christian Rowland Wheatley · May 21, 2026
A prayer for God to search me Paul Hayden · May 17, 2026

Same Scripture

Sermons on John 3, Numbers 21

Christ Must Be Lifted Up Tanner Van Beek · John 3:14-15
Christ Lifted Up Wayne Boyd · John 3:14-15
The Brasen Serpent Stephen Hyde · John 3:14-15
The serpent lifted up Don Bell · John 3:14-15
The Brazen Serpent Wayne Boyd

Suggested for You

Christ Must Be Lifted Up Tanner Van Beek · Jan 9, 2022 · John 3:14-15
Christ Lifted Up Wayne Boyd · May 14, 2017 · John 3:14-15
The Brasen Serpent Stephen Hyde · May 26, 2024 · John 3:14-15
The Brazen Serpent Henry Law · Sep 21, 2007 · 11 min read
The serpent lifted up Donnie Bell · May 29, 2022 · John 3:14-15
0:00 0:00